Gorgeous sun-fired gold beneath a towering cap of creamy alabaster foam. I'm always amazed at the sound that quality beer makes entering the glass; this one gets a 4.5/5.0 for musicality. The complementary colors look great, as does the rocky, rough-hewn look of the head. A better than average amount of soon-to-be-crusty lace finds its way to the glass. A classy look and great way to start.

Noble hops aren't my favorites, but Old Dominion, in their Spring Brews at least, always finds a way to make them smell wonderful. Dry-hopping was definitely a good idea this time round. According to the label, the hop bill consists of Saaz, Tettnang and Splat (I'm pretty sure that it's Spalt, but I expect the hops to go splat! on my palate so I'll let it slide). The aroma is sweet and buttery more than it is grassy or spicy, an indication that there's plenty of malt on hand as well.

Although I don't like this year's version quite as much as the '05, it's still damn fine beer and the score might even be the same once I've had time to savor the entire bottle. A mere five months shouldn't have worn down the hops too awful much. It's unfair to criticize the brewery's claim of 'ferociously hopped' since it may very well have been just that when fresh.

This is how I like my noble hops (in most cases), coddled and caressed by a creamy, buttery, cake-like malt presence that takes the rough edges off of their pungency while still allowing their tremendous flavor to shine through. Spring Brew '06 is a perfect example of that dynamic.

Sweet and bitter go at it tooth and nail, neither emerging as the clear victor. Just what I like: lots of malt, lots of hops, lots of sweetness and lots of bitterness. This is truly delicious beer. I wouldn't care if Old Dominion tweaked the recipe from year to year because I have the utmost confidence in their ability to come up with a tasty as hell American double pils each and every time. Two years in a row is a trend. Three would be a tradition.

It's hard to believe the stated ABV because there's very little evidence of it on the palate. A lot of breweries would kill to be able to mask 8.5% this completely (I won't name names). The body is medium-full and can only be described as lush. Silkily creamy works as well. Mouthfeel definitely makes the Spring Brew '06 highlight reel.

The taste score is tenuous, but I just had to give this brew the benefit of the doubt because it's so well-crafted and so enjoyable. I have no doubt that if I'd cracked it open several months ago I would have been even more impressed. I love these Dominion Spring Brews and will do whatever it takes to get my hands on each year's vintage. Thanks, this time, to hopsaplenty.

Beautiful beer! It pours a clear, deep-gold body beneath a frothy head of off-white that holds remarkably well and leaves rings and short walls of craggy lace behind.

The nose is stunning! It's almost like a fermenting beer with lots of bright, earthy and mineralish, floral, grassy and spicy hops bursting out at you. How they kept that in here I don't know, but I'm certainly not complaining. A waft of alcohol can be found, mainly towards the end of the glass, but mostly it's covered over by the hops.

The bright, fresh hoppiness carries right over into the flavor... spicy, floral, and grassy over a straightforward, grainy maltiness. The bitterness is solid, but falling more to the firm side than the brisk side, and it's perfectly balanced to display the sprightly hop flavors! As in the aroma, a twist of alcohol does sneak through towards the end of the glass, but for the most part it's completely cloaked.

It finishes dry, with some quick-passing spicy and floral hop notes that fade to leave the grassy side lingering alongside a dull, rocky bitterness.

If it was a little bit sharper, crisper and more bitter it could pass as a north German Pilsner with a super-charge of hops (which, of course, would then no longer be a north German Pilsner, but...). If it was a touch softer and a little thinner in the malt profile (it is pretty big!) it would be a brilliant Czech pils. As it is, it's it's own beer.... an Imperial Pilsner, yes, but it's more refined and balanced than most of the other examples out there. Very well done, and a treat for hop heads everywhere!

Appears a deep golden hue with a vibrant white head leaves thin lacing with each sip a bit sophisticated in here. Aroma contains much appreciated honey tones with grassy and citrus hues of Saaz hoppage very nice overall tall grass among light tones of toasted malts. Taste is thick and edgy the way it was meant to be very dark malt approach to a golden beer feels like light olive oil branches of peace dipped in hop oils very thick and unrelenting type of beer to represent a wide group of us out there. Mouthfeel makes my cheeks realize where my grouping of flavor came from the palate of drinkability has completely decimated the way I surviived day in and day out.

12oz bottle from bleedingshrimp as part of 120/190 BIF. Thanks for the opportunity.

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 1" eggshell head over the clear golden brew. Dense head isn't going anywhere fast, with heavy frothy lacing. Aroma is sweet pale grains and crisp hops. Taste is pale malt sweetness coupled with dominant but controlled hoppiness. Mouthfeel is creamy and smooth, and drinkability is excellent for the style. Another enjoyable OD brew.

The beer poured into the glass crystal clear pale golden straw with a white frothy head which rose well and fell slowly to lace the glass.

The aroma was mostly sulphur components as the head fell, not suphur in a DMS (cooked corn) sense, but Sulphur nonetheless. As the head fell a more grassy hop presence emerged, the label touted the amount and typed of German and Czech hops but in truth the aroma has just the slightest aromatic of a spent firecracker. Sort of a light gunpowder aroma would be the best descriptor I can come up with.

The flavor was nice with a decent bittering which was very spicy yet smooth and not overdone. The flavor was malty, but only using light crystal and base malts to achieve that flavor. The bittering and flavor was the clinchers with excellent hop character to accentuate the malt yet bittering won the battle without being overpowering. The bittering was more subtle in nature and the battle was won on that accord.

The finish was dry with a nice lasting spicy hop character on the palate throughout the aftertaste and beyond. The body was medium and the carbonation was moderate and well done. The hop aromas working together to give a spent firecracker aromatic was a bit odd, but I liked it. Nicely done!

Initially a nice sweet lager malt aroma that is soon followed by hops aplenty with the two, in time, developing a nice balance between the two. The malt character hops some depth and this also blends with the intensity of the hops resulting in a aroma with some body. Fruity quality of some lemon and light fruit. This is nice.
Heavy gold/yellow color with a density preventing clarity. White head that recedes at a moderate pace and leaves some visual evidence of each drink. Lots of bubble rising.
Nice clean character to the drink. The dry bitterness of the finish is the most potent quality early on. Early sip notes a pleasing light fruity sweetness, but the bitterness soon kicks in and dominates until the end. Hop flavor of grass and a touch of resin, but none of Am. hop varieties. Malt provides nice body and balance. At this abv surprisingly no evidence of alcohol in the flavor.
Moderate body and fullness from fine carbonation too. Lager smooth, but not quite crisp, with a thought of thirst quenching qualities.
Lager enough to tantalize me with the possibility of quick consumption. But wait, this is at 8.5%. Scary. This goes down so easily.
Thanks JB.

Appearance: Looks like a pilsner, though it has a much better head and pretty nice lacing, which is really clumpy in odd spots. Body is the golden yellow of a pilsner.

Smell: Lots of sweet malt and citrus hops with a bit of grassiness and earthiness. It's quite pungent, but in an effervescent way. If this were balanced and more complex it would be pretty kickass. But as it stands it has a really nice aroma to it.

Taste: A bit sweet at first, but that sinks into a fairly complex meld of citrus hops and the malt, which ends up working out very well. Once again, this could be astounding if it were more complex, but as it stands it's extremely enjoyable.

Mouthfeel: Seems a bit creamy at first before the burst of filling carbonation. But they end up working rather well together for a full mouthfeel with just the right amount of spritziness to curb the fullness.

Drinkability: I think this is the first review I've done this lopsided high drinkability rating, but it's solid all around, and I keep wanting to drink it. And it's been nice both by itself and with some spicy food. And at around $8 a six pack, I mean come on. I'm looking forward to trying some more Dominion, especially since it's a fairly local brewery here in Richmond.

12 oz., bottled on 3/8/06. Post-fermentation dry-hopping with Saaz, Tettnang, and Spalt hops contribute 70 IBUs to this 8.5% pilsner as per my label. Not sure if gbarron got a different batch than me though I would guess not as it's a one-off release. It pours into the pilsner glass a crystal-clear solid gold with a half-inch of off-white head that leaves little lacing. There are lots of hops in the aroma - predominantly grapefruit. Lots of grapefruit, pine, spicy, and citric hops all over the palate, with a lot of bitterness and hop oils, a sweetness in the back, and a touch of alcohol. There are lots of noble hops in there but they are in no way abrasive to the palate even though there isn't a substantial malt profile - the malts are just enough to balance as they barely make themselves known. It has a medium bitterness with a medium to long finish and it drinks pretty easily, pairing well with some stinky feta I had. I like these highly-hopped pilsners that are coming out, and this one is a good pick as it's cheaper by the bottle (by a dime where I got it) than Old Dominion's year-round beers. I need to go back and pick up a sixer.

A: Great looking beer. Clean, vibrant golden with numerous rows of bubbles meandering to the surface. Head is a sticky mess of swiss looking cheese, bubbling and bursting while falling slowly. Extremely sticky, bubbles trailing all over the sides of the glass.

S: Copper coins, honey, fresh barley and cut grass.

T: Sour wheat like kicks hit then round into young sugary barley. Hints of relish, cane beet and a metallic twang. Finishes with a rush of European bittering hops. Sort of herby and floral with a touch of soap.

M: Medium to heavy body, especially for the color. Carbonation adds a some what creamy texture.

D: Not bad. Not my favorite style but it wasn't bad. Fairly well balanced for a double pilsner.

It's been sitting in my fridge for a couple of months now. We'll see how it has withstood time. Thanks to ChuckCook for bringing this up during the return of the BBF.

A: Pours a slightly hazy smog like gold color with slight orange hues. One finger white head has nice retention.
S: Fruity with a butterscotch essence to it. Toasted grain. Hop twang to finish out the aromas.
T/M: Floral and grassy hop notes kick in right from the drop. Nice bitterness that's not overly exaggerated finds it way to the surface. Toasted grains that seem to have a sweetness to them. A tad buttery on the palate (from the "cellaring"). Thick in the mouth.
D: Not a bad brew overall. I'm still not sure of the purpose of a double pilsner. Aren't pilsner's supposed to be refreshing, light, and easy drinking? Yeah...I want to down a bunch of pilsners a la session brew. Not with this high abv of 7.5 as the label states.

Yeah, I know it's almost summer but I finally got around to trying Dominion's Spring Brew...and it was worth the wait. It pours a very clear golden yellow with a thick, bright white head. Picture perfect pilsner, IMO. Now the smell, on the other hand could be a bit stronger. Mostly a sweet, slightly sour, malt scent with a very light grassy / floral hop aroma in the distance. But, when you taste it, the hops that are mentioned on the back of the bottle (which you can't really smell) show up. Starts sweet then becomes a great, balanced blend of malts and hops. Medium body with very active carbonation. May pick up another six of these before they are gone.

This poured to a very nice clear yellow and gold color with a small head that lasted very well. There's a medium amount of lace.

The smell has a little pale malt but is mostly of hops. The hops aren't overpowering at all but are definitely have a strong presence. The taste is surprisingly balanced and mild for the strength and content. The mouthfeel is solid and drinkability is very good.

Pours light yellow to golden and crystal clear, white head dissipates quickly. A light grainy smell at first develops into a lightly sweet maltiness as it warms with a hint of bitterness. A peppery bitterness flashes on the tongue but is quickly balanced by the malt. The beer finishes crisp with some bitterness clinging to the inside of the mouth. My rating may somewhat reflect my predilection for ales, however if thirsting for a lager an imperial pils would be one of my first choices and this one is quite drinkable.

Imperial Pilsners are my friend, this is above and beyond what I had expected. Aroma is malty sweet with an abundance of floral hops. Pours a golden slightly orange color very rich and deep. There is a minimal white head and very little lacing. Rich and somewhat full there is a pretty decent feel to this beer. Flavor is extremely hoppy, more floral but I do detect slight citrus and piney flavors. The malts seem to be more on the sweet side. Completely unexpected I am impressed.

The back label reads that forty pounds of hops were used in each twenty-five barrel batch. 70 IBUs, and 8.5%.

Pours with a noisy, crackling bright white head of loosely packed large bubbles. Slow to settle, leaving clots of sticky lacing, eventually reducing to a skim coat. Numerous jetting carbonation streams race through the crystal clear 18K gold liquid. The smell is remarkably restrained and consists of slight sweet pilsner malt and spicy noble hops, fresh and slightly grassy. The taste is nice and hoppy up front, crisp, which then gives way to a modest malt body. Finishes beautifully crisp with a slight citrus rind component that draws itself out for a while. There is a nice balance here. The alcohol is not evident at all. Medium body with a light mouthfeel and moderate carbonation. This is a wonderful imperial pilsner, highly drinkable and highly recommended.

A - Pours a britght clean and transparent orange color. The body looks a lot like orange soda. Not much head to speak of, but there is still a decent amount of lace on the glass.

S - Grain, alcohol, and a whole lot of bittering hops. There is a very pronounced citrisy smell to it as well.

T - I love a good Pils, and this is a Pils on steriods. European hops start is off bitter, but it quickly moves into a peppery spice kick before tranitioning between sweet and bitter all the way to finish. For a beer as simple as a pilsner, this is faily complex and very good.

M - Meduim, but could use a bit more carbonation.

D - Good stuff and overall a very nice seasonal beer from Old Dominion.

T - sharp noble hop bitterness hits your tongue first. Then sweet malt backbone. Tangy sweet malt in the middle of the swallow. Notes of biscuit, grains, yeast. Aftertaste is very dry and bitter, loads of hops in this beer. Only a slight hint of alcohol, well covered.

I bought this bottle at the Dominion brewpub 2006-03-11, 2006 version. No bottling date since some bottles ended up non-dated, so they were selling them there. Poured into an Old Dominion pilsner glass. It shows a near perfect golden color with a nice fluffy white head. Bubbles rise up the length of the glass. Smell is wonderful noble/European hops.

When you taste it, the bitterness of the Saaz hops hit you first. Then the the flavors of the other hops come through making for a wonderful complex set of hops. There's the nice, clean pilsner malt and a nice balancing act of a hint of sweet malt and alcohol. The alcohol is well hidden but it's still there.

The mouthfeel is spot on. It's a tiny bit more subdued than last year and great to drink.

What a delicious spring-time brew! I was concerned that I would be overpowered with hops after reading the description on the back, but this is an imperial pilsner in the truest sense: lighter, a bit more alcohol than normal (yet undetectable) and refreshing enough to have more than one. The first scent of the beer begs the question: where are the hops? They are certainly there, it is just that they don't smack you right in the face like some imperial brews. This beer isn't supposed to overpower you or really make you think too much about the flavors, but simply enjoy everything that is there, time and again. I'll certainly be looking forward to my next sampling and add another nice gold star for Old Dominion!

This beer pours nicely into my pint glass with a little to much head.. but it thined out quickly. The colour was a little light but no complaints from me.. The smell is outstanding but could be a little stronger. The flavour was second to none. This could be one of the greatest Imperial Pilsners I've ever has. I had to stop myself from drinking the whole 6er in one night so i could enjoy it another. I hope they have this at the Old Dominion beer fest this year!! I want this on tap!! I might need an excuse to go to Virginia just to go to there Brew Pub